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122 of 131 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ammunition to use in the "Culture War.", June 12, 2009
This review is from: Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All (Hardcover)
This book comes highly recommended by Nationally Syndicated radio talk show star, Stephanie Miller. Which is how I found out about it in the first place, she did an interview with the author on her show.
As a person who considers myself spiritual, and who identifies most strongly with Christianity, it has been frustrating me for a long time that the extreme right wing in the United States (and elsewhere, but mostly in the United States) have somehow managed to claim Jesus Christ to be on "their side."
Their side just happens to be: pro-torture, pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-revenge, pro-wealth at the expense of all else, pro-public displays of personal religion, anti-taxes, against helping the poor, and against women's rights.
This book, point by point, cites chapter and verse of the Bible and shows that not only was Jesus a "hippy Liberal" who hung out with the prostitues, the poor and the downtrodden, but that he was outspoken against pretty much all of the issues the extreme right wing keep trying to claim he would be for.
The author points out that it was Jesus who said "turn the other cheek," he did NOT say, "let's bomb them back to the stone age." The author points out that it was Jesus who said, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. [...] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." [NIV] That pretty much flies in the face of those screaming hysterically about public prayer in the schools.
The author also points out that it was Jesus who said, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the kingdom of God." [NIV] And, "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." That seems pretty clear as to where Jesus would come down on the whole multi-billionaire issue.
The author hits the nail right on the head for all of the talking points the extreme right ring like to bandy about on the national air waves, and refutes them with Jesus' own words. It is refreshing to have it all at your fingertips. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has extreme right wingers in their family (like me) who they are constantly getting dragged into debates with. It is great ammunition for those inevitable Thanksgiving dinner arguments.
I am aware that there are people out there who are going to disagree with this author, the conclusions he makes, and my review, simply on the basis that we do not agree with them. I fully expect to get many "not helpful" marks for this review, and I am fine with that. I think this review IS helpful, and I challenge any of you getting ready to hit that "not helpful" rating, to seriously read the book, read the EXACT WORDS of Jesus Christ, and really ask yourself if what you are doing is to glory Him and His message, or a petty, vindictive act of petulant revenge simply because you are filled with hate from a hateful message, and you do not know how to let go? Read the book, and ask Him. He may have "good news" for you ;-)
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent introduction to progressive Christianity, July 7, 2009
This review is from: Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All (Hardcover)
Book Review by Jim Burklo, Associate Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California, and author of BIRDLIKE AND BARNLESS: Meditations, Prayers, and Songs for Progressive Christians:
JESUS WAS A LIBERAL: Reclaiming Christianity for All
by Rev. Scotty McLennan (Palgrave MacMillan, 2009)
This review was published in the Summer 2009 edition of THE PROGRESSIVE CHRISTIAN magazine.
"Liberal" is anything but a dirty word for the Dean of Religious Life, and pastor of Memorial Church, at Stanford University. Scotty McLennan is proof that while Christians may be a minority group within it, publicly professing followers of Jesus still thrive in the Unitarian Universalist Association in which he is ordained. He has written his opus on progressive Christianity without disparaging the conservative Christians or the public atheists to whose positions his book carefully responds. With his typical generosity of spirit, Scotty shares how much he respects and learns from those with whom he substantially disagrees, while using them to locate progressives in the center of the Christian tradition. Scotty is the real person behind the figure of Rev. Scot Sloan in Doonesbury, created by McLennan's Yale roommate, Garry Trudeau. Contrary to his comic-strip caricature as the pastor of a nearly empty church, McLennan's big audience will grow bigger with the launch of this new book.
JESUS WAS A LIBERAL is the best introduction to theologically and socially progressive Christianity that I've read in the past several years. McLennan offers a concise definition of "liberal" Christianity, and applies it concretely to hot-button social issues and common confusions about biblical interpretation. He describes what is right about the long, venerable liberal religious tradition more than he argues against what is wrong with atheism or biblical literalism. He makes his cases unequivocally but without being shrill. He offers a defense of abortion rights grounded on the Christmas story in Matthew: "Precisely because Mary's situation is utterly unique, it places in bold relief other girls and women who have not voluntarily chosen to become pregnant." (p 16) He shares the bases of his public opposition to the war in Iraq in Christian "just war theory". His analysis of the impending conflict, and his predictions of the outcome of the war expressed in his sermons and a newspaper editorial, turned out to be uncannily accurate.
The book is flavored throughout with both the earthy and the intellectual. Scotty moves between insights from religious scholarship and stories from his own and others' experiences of pastoral ministry. He illustrates with stories from his stints as a poverty lawyer, as a disciple of a Hindu priest in India, and as a university lecturer. He neatly addresses the common concerns of lay people who are struggling with basic Christian concepts like the Trinity, the "body and blood" of communion, being "born again", and the apocalypse. But he doesn't talk down to the reader: he also salts the text with scholarly analyses of biblical texts and historical details.
The most distinctive feature of his book is his detailed response to four highly visible public atheists of the past few years; Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. He engaged with them personally in their appearances at Stanford, responding to their indictments of liberal, progressive faith. Scotty's book is a call for critics of supernaturalist faith to refrain from throwing the baby Jesus out with the bathwater. He vigorously argues against their accusations that progressive faithful people unwittingly aid and abet the perpetuation of archaic, harmful religion. At the same time, he calls liberal Christians to join atheists in ecstatically experiencing the natural world. "...I congratulate Richard Dawkins on his enthusiasm, awe, and wonder forged as an atheist in the realm of science alone. We religious people need more of his spirit." (p 127)
The book ends with McLennan's rousing defense of the "L" word. "Too many (liberal Christians) choose silence, afraid to use the word "liberal" to describe where they stand. That leaves them lying low, sitting quietly in their pews at church or in private prayer at home... I bellow, `Stand up, stand tall, and proclaim the positive power of liberal Christianity! Do it now, before it's too late!'" (p 219) In the cause of redeeming the faith, whether we use the word "liberal" or "progressive", nobody stands taller - literally and figuratively - than Scotty McLennan.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Soul food at the table of peace and justice, August 1, 2009
This review is from: Jesus Was a Liberal: Reclaiming Christianity for All (Hardcover)
In this thoughtful, carefully documented book, Scotty McLennan has some reassuring words for those of us interested in peace, at home and abroad, and in social justice. This though many of us have occasionally been embarrassed to identify ourselves as Christians of late. Jesus, McLennan explains, was up to promoting those same things. He probably wouldn't even have been pointing an exclusionary finger at people who are different. At a time when ultra-conservative Christians command large audiences from a few convenient bully pulpits, and when conservative congregations are admittedly growing (and surely doing a lot of good things!) it's easy for us centrists and liberals to wonder what to do next. So when McLennan shows how Jesus consistently stood for peace, and against poverty, discrimination and environmental degradation, it's like a breath of supportive fresh air. "We need to find each other and support each other," he says. This good book offers ways to do that, and food for the liberal soul.
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